John Gushue . . . Dot Dot Dot

One more reason to love pencils

I love this ad for Staedtler, as seen here. Although I compose almost always with keyboards, and have become accustomed to tapping notes into devices, I still always tote around notebooks. I have a mugful of pencils, and can't imagine not having a supply reading for jotting quick ideas, making a list, dreaming big ... whatever. 

Might I refer you again to this wonderful quote by Henry Petroski, author of The Pencil? 

 

Will Ferrell does some advertising for ... Old Milwaukee?

Those who remember the beer strike in Newfoundland and Labrador in 1985 (if I have my dates right) will surely remember Old Milwaukee ... which quickly gained the nickname "Old Millwater" from less-than-impressed consumers who nonetheless took to the U.S. import as a crutch while the strike dragged on. 

Charitably, Old Milwaukee is called a "bargain" brand .. a polite way of saying that's it cheap, and there's a reason for it. 

I haven't paid much attention to the brand at all until I read that Will Ferrell, of all people, is not only doing commercials for Old Milwaukee (apparently out of affection for the label), but that they're airing in just a few markets. Have a look at one of them - it was probably done on a shoestring, but Ferrell makes the timing of a 30-second spot work right till the last split-second. 

Your fried chicken does not look like their fried chicken

An interesting infographic on fast food and advertising from Australia. 

 

BMW plays chess

In outdoor advertising, as in real estate, it's all about location, location, location. 

And, of course, having a snappy comeback. 

As seen here. 

George Clooney really is a dog

Why, after all, should all the good parodies involving animals have cats? This is part of a set (including The Yelp and Muttnight in Paris) that can be seen here. 

The acorn is found near the tree

I found a copy of a DVD of Saturday Night Live commercial parodies in a discount bin. At $2.99, how could I not? I had seen the Will Ferrell-hosted special before, and have seen some of the spots many, many times over the years (including the John Belushi Olympics-themed one below). This evening, Nick and I both howled while watching some of them; I remember when cable was a novelty and staying up to watch SNL was a thrill. Small wonder, then, to hear him laugh so hard at the same stuff. 

 

Get moving, already

This is a bold bit of public-health advocacy: the creative is evidently Portuguese, and aims to motivate people to exercise. As seen here. 

When Atari went for the subtle approach to reaching the youth market

This vintage ad was spotted here. 

 

The Sheldon Cooper parody of Dos Equis

He's not the most interesting man in the world, but he does know how to pick his moments.

I saw this 9gag joke via this feed.

 

How Santa keeps up with his 3.7 billion appointments

Siri may be causing headaches for some users, but Apple is pitching away all the same. The latest commercial imagines how Santa Claus would use the voice-activated assistant. 

Santa finds his inner Jordan

Alternate headline: Nothing but soot. 

As seen here. 

 

The wild turducken

A new ad from Pepto-Bismol has a seasonal approach ... and some CGI. 

A Polaroid Christmas

I'm writing my column this week (right now, actually) on Instagram, and I'm referencing the old commercials for Polaroid that featured James Garner and Mariette Hartley. Just spent a few nostalgic minutes look at some, including this chestnut from 1979. 

AdWords: An infographic by the numbers

AdWords is a big business. A very big business, for that matter. 

The above infographic was produced by WordStream, which specializes in managing them. 

 

The Old Spice guys plays Santa

Well, actually, it's MAN-ta Claus. Ho ho ho, indeed. The latest spin on Old Spice's viral flavour includes iterations for different countries (catchy), including this one for a pretty remote part of the Pacific. 

Duff gets a classy makeover

 

What if Duff, the beer company from The Simpsons, got an upscale brand makeover? It's part of this collection of reimagined logos of fictional companies.

 

Naming a company

This is one sample of a larger set. Have a look. 

The elite niche in personal tech, albeit in 1958

Check out this ad for a Motorola transistor radio. A long road has been travelled in five decades or so. 

As seen on this Tumblr feed. 

Best Christmas ad so far this year

Thanks to Karen Chappell for pointing my eyes to this, a 90-second spot for the U.K. retailer John Lewis that plays with the expectation of Christmas ... and delivers a delightful twist at the end of a compact story. 

Have a look. 

 

Wonderfully done. The cover of the Smiths tune Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want is done, incidentally, by an act called Slow Moving Millie. I doubt I'm the only person this week (the ad was posted Thursday) checking iTunes, in vain. 

Star Wars and product placement

Josh Lenhardt, a fellow player on Empire Avenue, is one of the creators of this comic, which imagines Star Wars with a little (or lot of) product placement. See the original here ... and poke around. 

If you're awesome ...

.. go straight this way. 

Martha has been volunteering for a while now for the Duke of Edinburgh Awards in Newfoundland and Labrador, in a capacity as a communications professional. 

The poster above was developed for the launch of a campaign that rolled out earlier this week, aimed at young people who might be looking for adventures that are, indeed, awesome but completely within their grasp. The creative was done by the St. John's marketing firm Spark. 

How to serve a Stella Artois

Stella Artois makes some pretty good beer, and they're also behind some advertising that stands out. Below is a video meant to be passed around online, built upon a campaign theme of "9 Steps." 

 

The above mini-movie is one thing, but I actually prefer this spot from 2010, which goes out of its way to play up the character of ordering and serving a beer in a tavern.

Selling storage

Manhattan Mini-Storage evidently has a way of getting the attention of New Yorkers, which is no small feat.

There are others here, and they're even funnier.

The cat your cat could stomp like

Wow, this made us laugh. I actually wanted to find the new Puss In Boots TV commercial that's on now, promoting the upcoming movie; i instead found this, a parody/homage to the Old Spice commercial. 

Meow. 

An old-fashioned T-shirt